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Vampires: Nights of the Undead
What is a vampire? • Defined as “a bloodsucking ghost or reanimated body of a dead person believed to come from the grave and wander about by night sucking the blood of persons asleep and causing their death (Webster’s Third New International Dictionary, 1966). • Found in every culture, in every time period around the world • Vampire foxes (Japan); green- or pink-haired, red-eyed creatures (China); chupacabra (Mexico)
Vampire myth • Vampires we know of come from Slavic/Romanian myths • Believed “unclean spirits” could possess a decomposing body • Spirit needed blood to sustain body • Split in Catholic church • Roman Catholic – believed uncorrupted bodies were saints • Eastern Orthodox – believed uncorrupted bodies were vampires • Uncorrupted? • Doesn’t decompose • Reasons? Cold ground; chemicals in ground
“Modern” myth • Sleep during the day in dirt from homeland • drink blood to sustain self, • holy water & crucifix will burn, hates sunlight, • can transform into other creatures (bats, wolves, mist, fog), • no reflection
Literature & movies • Vampires were horrible creatures that created terror • Literature begins to transform vamps into seductive creatures • John Polidori’s “The Vampyre” 1818 – written during the same trip to Geneva that M. Shelley wrote Frankenstein • Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1897) • Most of modern ideas of vampires come from Stoker’s brain • Coffins filled with earth from native land • Needing to be invited into a home • Able to transfigure or shape-shift • Not able to create a reflection in a mirror
Medical reasons for vampirism • Anemia • Consumption (lung tuberculosis) • Porphyria – blood disease • Photosensitivity • Pale skin • Skin around lips and gums tightens (make teeth appear to get longer) • Garlic makes the symptoms worse
XerodermaPigmentosum • Severe photosensitivity • The sun causes irritation, burning, blistering of skin • Often individuals cannot of out in sunlight at all
Weaknesses • Depends on the culture but typically these objects will hurt a vampire • Garlic • Branch of a wild rose • Branch of hawthorn plant • Sacred objects (rosary, crucifix, holy water, etc.) • Cannot cross running water or consecrated ground • Cannot enter a house unless invited • No reflection or shadow (reason? No soul)
Killing a vampire (and making sure it stays dead this time) • Decapitation • Staking To keep it dead and keep others safe: • After decapitation, place head between feet and stuff the mouth with garlic • Bury the body upside down • Cut out the heart and burn it • To cure someone bitten: burn vampire body parts and feed to the bitten person
Real vampires? • Vlad the Impaler (VladTepes Dracula) (1431-1476) • Father ,VladDracul, was prince of Wallachia 1400s • Member of the Order of the Dragon • “Dracul” means dragon or devil • “Dracula” means son of the dragon/devil • Tried to keep peace with Turks by turning back on the Order • Vlad(son) and brother Radu sent to Turks as “insurance” • Learned about war, torture • Dracul was murdered, eldest son buried alive by boyars (wealthy merchants); Vlad returns home at 17 with a purpose
Vlad the Impaler • As revenge, Easter Sunday 1459, Vlad impaled the older boyars outside the city walls, forced the rest to march to Poienari to build his castle. • Literally worked to death • Took the boyars’ property and positions and gave them to people loyal to him • Anyone who did wrong was brutally punished • Killed 30,000 merchants because they disobeyed trade laws – left bodies to rot outside city walls • Two Turkish ambassadors refused to remove their caps on a visit . Vlad asked why; told it was the custom to keep them on. Vlad then nailed the caps on their heads so they could never be removed.
Wars with the Turks • Vlad considered a hero by the Catholic Church • Why? • Fought off the Turks (Muslims) • Wallachia and surrounding area border of Muslim lands • Fear was Turks would take over Europe • Vlad successful
1461 Sultan Mehmed II, conqueror of Constantinople (modern Istanbul), marched to Tirgoviste • As his army approached the city, sees 20,000 Turkish prisoners impaled • “forest of stakes” • According to legend, Mehmed saw this and left
Vlad • In the end, Dracula was imprisoned twice and regained power each time • In one battle, he escaped back to his castle in secret • His wife, fearing capture, leaped to her death from a tower; Vlad escaped through an under ground tunnel • During one capture, Vlad impaled insects, small animals in his cell • Died in battle near Bucharest in December 1476 • Decapitated (head sent to Constantinople where the Sultan stuck it on a stake and displayed it) • Body supposedly buried at Snagov (monastery island near Bucharest)
Elizabeth Bathory (Vampire countess) • Born a Hungarian princess 1560-1614 in what is now the country of Slovakia • Married young, had four children, able to speak several languages • Claim to fame? • Supposedly drank and bathed in blood of her victims – young virgins – to retain her youth
The Myth • After beating a servant girl, whose blood splattered on Bathory’s skin, she felt the blood made her skin appear more youthful • Murdered over 600 girls • Began with peasants – families told they were selected to attend a finishing school – but eventually continued to include daughters of nobility, who got upset
The Reality • Not a vampire, but a sadistic serial killer • Aided by several servants, who were put to death after being found guilty • Bathory was sealed within a room in her castle • Slits made in the door to pass her food • All doors and windows sealed up • Dies 3 ½-4 years later
Bram Stoker • Born in Ireland, 1847-1912 • During his lifetime, known as personal assistant to actor, Henry Irving, and business manager of Lyceum Theatre in London • Wrote Dracula in 1897 • Years earlier, had taught classes on folklore and vampire myth/legend • Familiar with Vlad and history of that region • Had never been to Romania
